What Came After
by Arwyn89
Summary: After the earthquake the Cohen's do their best to help about town, but everyones live have changed...and not for the better. Origional Character
1. What Came After

**What Came After**

**This is my version of what could have happened right after the earthquake, had the Cohen's roof not caved in. Involves an Original Character (an o.c. In The OC) ((Sorry – bad joke)).**

**Written by Arwyn89 – All reviews appreciated!**

Stepping into the house, the Cohen's looked around at their house. Considering the disaster of the rest of the neighbourhood, the house had survived quite well. A few broken windows and some furniture that would have to be replaced, but other than that...

They all sighed a breath of relief, none of them not too sure what to expect. The results were not as bad as expected, considering the state of the rest of the town. Everything was fixable, in the Cohen's more than modest budget.

The pale morning sun was fighting its way through the rubble, casting shadows across the room. Sandy Cohen picked his way across the room, being careful not to disturb anything. He walked past a smashed coffee table, into the kitchen. Smashed dishes lined the floor, the cracked glass-pane doors seemed to lie at an odd angle. The overhead light was swinging lightly at the sudden disruption. Gazing out through the doors, Sandy viewed the damage in the pool house. Unfortunately, which no longer had doors. Turning round, he seen the rest of the family all gathered round the doorway. "Sorry kid", he said to Ryan, "Looks like your going to have to bunk up with Seth for a few nights. Least till we can get you walls again", a grinning Sandy told him. Ryan grinned back.

"Yeah, I'm sure Seth is already planning what comics we'll be reading", he said turning and walking back out the room.

"Oh, come you guys, that's not fair", Seth complained, following close at hand, "Can we at least refer to them as graphic novels. It sounds way cooler".

Sitting in the cold room, the girl shivered. Not that living in California in the midst of spring was exactly the coldest weather in the west...it was more that she was unsure, even scared, of what was going to happen to her.

People threw her looks of pity as they walked past, but she tried to ignore them as best she could. As long as they didn't try to comfort her, she would be fine. She never really liked being touched. A door at the end of the long hall opened letting in cracks of the first rays of sun. It was a weak light, as if to compensate for the destruction that the earthquake had brought. Two smartly dressed people walked in, a blonde woman and a dark haired man. Not that this was unusual – lots of people had been in and out already to look for loved one's. These sorts of shelters had been set up all about the town. She thought she recognised them from somewhere but wasn't too sure. Even if she did know them, she hadn't been thinking straight lately. The walked towards the woman who appeared to be in charge and began talking quickly. No doubt they were some rich couple looking to donate just so they could get their names in this weeks society pages.

A distinct shade of hatred washed over her face. She hates the rich of Newport and everything they stood for. Too many times her and her family had been taken advantage of by these stuck up snobs. Not that she had much family any ways – just her and her mom. Not that they weren't comfortable with their own living – they did all right between them, her mom was a receptionist at some new law firm and she had a part time job in the evenings and weekends in a store down town. Its just some of these women flaunted their wealth in the faces of those with less and believed themselves to be above most folk. It irritated her down to her deepest pores.

Trying to eavesdrop on the conversation, she heard the pair were asking if there was anything they could do to help. The woman told them so far they were just making lists here – those who had been found and those who were missing. She was unable to catch the next part, but was left to presume what it was about when all three heads turned simultaneously to look over at her. Quickly dipping her head, she avoided their gazes, hoping they would leave her alone. This hope was short lived, however, as she saw them walking towards her. Cursing under her breath, she prepared for their attack.

"Emily", the woman said walking closer, "This is Mr. And Mrs. Cohen", she said gesturing to the people behind her. Emily nodded curtly to them and focused back on the woman, wondering what it was they could be wanting.

"Emily, nice to meet you", the Mr. Cohen said, extending his hand, "I believe you mother used to work with me at the Newport Group", he told her. Dawning realisation spread across her face as it became clear where she had seen him from before. She used to stop by the work when her mom was still their. Emily reached out and grasped his hand briefly before quickly pulling hers away. "I'm sorry to hear about your mom-",

"She's not dead", Emily interrupted. The woman who was running the centre let a flicker of anger creep across her face – not that Emily cared. But the Cohen's just looked sympathetic.

"Of course she's not, we just wanted to make sure you were OK", he continued, almost ignoring the outburst. Years working with juvenile delinquents had given Sandy the patience of a saint. "Do you have somewhere to go until your mom gets better?", He asked.

"Um...I should be fine", Emily lied, trying to think of an excuse on the spot, "one of my friends will probably put me up for a while...our house is in pretty bad shape", She continued. Sandy nodded, turning towards the woman.

"Anne, what's happening with the homeless?", he asked. Flustered at being caught off guard, the woman stuttered and looked embarrassed. _Good_, Emily thought.

"Well, were trying our best to find temporary housing for most people but as you have to understand this is a time consuming task – and were trying to house those we feel most need it first. Families with young children ect. first. As you can understand", she finished, making it clear to Emily that she was due to be here for a while.

"Of course, of course, perfectly understandable. If you don't mind, we'd like to talk to Emily alone for a moment", he said, curtly dismissing Anne. She turned and walked away without another word. "Emily, your mom did a lot to help me at the Newport Group and for that I feel responsible for you while she's in hospital. My wife and I would like to extend our home to you until she recovers". Emily started to protest at once.

"No it's fine – thanks for the offer, it's just I'll be fine here. Really", she told them.

"Please we insist", Kirsten told her, "I've met your mom, and she was a lovely woman, whose recovery – I'm sure – would go much better if she knew her daughter was being looked after properly". Emily thought this over for a moment. She knew they were right...It's just Emily wasn't sure if she wanted to. In the end she knew what she had to do though – and nodded her head in agreement. Emily was off to live with the Cohen's.


	2. The Perfect Family

**Chapter 2**

Driving in a car this expensive back to the Cohen's house was an experience in itself. The grass did actually look greener as the pulled up to the gated estate. Houses beyond anything Emily had ever see loomed over her. The earthquake didn't seem to have affected this area of Newport. Apparently money could buy you anything.

Sitting on top of a hill, Sandy pulled the car up to the house. The sun was hitting off the windows, even this early in the morning. Unbuckling her belt, Emily stepped out of the car. The sun hit her back, heating her skin. It failed to penetrate her bones though. Sandy and Kirsten led the way to the house, beckoning for her to follow. Emily wished she had a bag or something to hold onto, to make her feel less awkward. Unfortunately she hadn't had the opportunity to get new clothes yet. Her house had been so badly damaged that she hadn't been allowed to get stuff from it. That would cause a problem, but one that she could deal with later.

Walking through the open door, the house caught her breath. The marble tiles clicked under her feet. There was a beautiful stair case to her right, that circled round upstairs. The room was open planned, stretching out to a large sitting room, centred around a fireplace on the left wall. A laugh caught in Emile's throat. Why would you need a fireplace in Newport? Looking up the roof distracted her. Reminding her of pictures of the Titanic, it had a circular dome in the middle, an impressive skylight.

"Hey", Sandy said, coming out of an opening from another room, "Come through, I want you to meet the rest of the family", he smiled, walking back through to the other room. Emily lost her nerve for a moment. She hadn't even thought to think that they would have kids.

Walking through into the room, that she finally saw was the kitchen, she seen two guys – maybe a few years older than her – sitting at the island in the room. "Hey", they both said, almost in unison. Emily simply nodded back to them.

"So this is Seth", Sandy said pointing to the dark haired one, "And this is Ryan", He said, gesturing to the other. Emily didn't quite know what to think of either. Both were attractive in their different ways. Seth seemed to have a cute-geek thing going on, while Ryan looked more the broody, violent type. Not that she was looking at them in that particular way – its just the first thing that came to her mind. "Any one hungry?", Sandy asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Emily shook her head.

Almost laughing at her self, she wondered why she had to suddenly resort to just shaking or nodding – usually she was quite out spoken about her opinions.

"Hey Sandy, sorry to run out on you like this, but I promised Taylor I'd stop by", Ryan said, draining the last of the contents in his cup. "Nice to meet you Emily", he said nodding to her. Pushing back his chair, Seth followed suit.  
"Yeah Dad, I better go see how Summers doing. Ryan can you give me a lift", he said following Ryan out the room. The house seemed to echo the slamming door, giving Emily another impression of how large this house was. Emile's face must have been furrowed in confusion, because Kirsten asked her,

"Is everything OK?". Emily was caught off guard.

"What, oh yeah, it's fine", she said lying. Kirsten just continued to look at her. Emily sighed. Not much got past these people. "It's just...why did Ryan call you by your name, but Seth called you 'Dad'", she said, focusing on Sandy. He laughed deeply.

"Sorry, I just keep forgetting you don't know everything around here. We adopted Ryan 3 years ago", he explained. Emily nodded slowly, still unsure of what type of family these people were.

"So what, you collect kids or something", she gestured to herself. Both of the Cohen's laughed.

"Well she's sharper than Ryan anyway", said Sandy, just as his cell phone went off. "Sorry honey, I got to take this", he said, taking his call out into the other room.

"Looks like it's just me and you", Kirsten said to Emily, "So I suppose we should sort out some things, like where your going to be sleeping. Or your clothes situation". Emily suddenly became self-concious.

"Oh no its fine-", she started, but was cut off.

"Don't be silly. You can't wear just those clothes until your house is cleared. And we have no idea when that will be", she said, walking round and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Look, if it's the money your worried about, it's fine. We'll pay for it. Consider it a...welcome to the Cohen's gift", she said, smiling widely.

The stores that they went into were nothing like Emily had ever been in before. Most of the price tags were more than her mother made in a year. However they both stayed nearer the cheaper clothing rails – if you could even call the prices cheap. Emily wasn't much for shopping or anything to do with that whole 'scene'. She wasn't exactly the sporty type either, although she enjoyed endurance sports like cross-country. But most of the time she would rather curl up with a book or a movie...being a creature of comfort.

A few hours later, Kirsten and Emily headed home with all the essentials. It was starting to get late. On the drive home they talked about mundane things like where Emily grew up and what school she went to – both avoiding any talk about her mother. Emily thought it was just to hard to talk about anything yet. She had called the hospital twice so far and both times an irate nurse had told her there'd been no change in her mothers condition. She reminded her as soon as there was, she would be called. Kirsten didn't venture on the subject as the young girl looked so exhausted.

Pulling into the Cohen house, Kirsten announced that she would just phone-in food. When Emily asked about the two boys and weather they would be home for dinner Kirsten said she would call them soon. Emily would have proffered if they weren't coming home. She felt like an intruder enough around Sandy and Kirsten, but around her son's she felt like a fifth wheel. They all just seemed so well connected together.

It was like they were the perfect family.


End file.
